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I have bought into this theory if only because (a) I think a sitting President deserves the benefit of the doubt, and (b) I think that Obamas biggest critics are, at a minimum, a little nutty.
have changed my mind. And this might put me into the "a little nutty" column, but I no longer care.
Last month Barack Obama said, "The private sector is doing fine." Lest you think I am quoting out of context, here's what he said via the Huffington Post, not a right wing mouthpiece:
"We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government, oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in."
The federal government, states the Gospel According to Obama, is the court of last resort for governors and mayors no matter how bloated the public payrolls and public pensions, nor how inefficient the delivery of services.
All right. Everyone gets to make one boneheaded statement. Lord knows I've used up several lifetimes of "Get Out of Jail Free" cards for idiotic things I've said in the heat of battle on TV.
But, then Obama said the other day that people who have started and built businesses are claiming credit for something they shouldn't. Obama said, in part:
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"If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
What?
Barack Obama has never - within our sketchy knowledge of his background - had to put his personal money at risk to create anything nor to hire anyone.
When Obama is talking about building a business he has no idea what he's talking about, because he's never done it.
After my speech with Mullfave Donna Brazile in Cleveland earlier this week I drove down to the home territories of Marietta, Ohio 45750 to have dinner with one set of friends and breakfast the next morning with another.
Both sets are small business people. They create jobs, they worry over payrolls, they are constantly looking for new clients, and their personal checking accounts are always on the table.
Taken together "The private sector is doing fine" and "Somebody else made that happen" were like standing them up against a brick wall and shooting them.
JP Morgan and General Electric will always do fine. Small business people don't have the armies of lawyers, lobbyists and accountants to tide them over through the rough patches.
The business people in Marietta, Ohio 45750 aren't looking for gold stars. They just want to be left alone to be able to pay their employees and vendors. They don't want a shout-out from their President; but they don't need a President who is so out of touch with the world of small business that he believes they survive only by the beneficence of the government.
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Yes, there is an Internet and an electric grid. But Americans have been building businesses since before there WAS an America, much less before there was an Internet or electricity.
This is no longer a choice between two candidates running for President. Obama has made it clear that this is an election that will determine whether an individual can succeed by his or her talent, timing, and hard work; or whether the government will be the arbiter who shall succeed and who shall not.
Abraham Lincoln famously said in his Gettysburg Address that the American government was "of the people, by the people and for the people."
It is time to recognize that Barack Obama truly believes that is upside down.
Obama believes that the American people are of the government, by the government, and for the government.
This election comes down to whether you believe in Lincoln's vision, or Obama's.
It's your choice.
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